Any 4-year-old who's still a maiden and racing for a claiming tag doesn't figure to have much talent.
Trainer Tony Dutrow, however, saw something he liked about Bless My Mary and took her on behalf of Michael Dubb for $25,000 out of a maiden race at Delaware Park in July.
Although Bless My Mary was badly beaten as the 6-5 favorite that day, she has done nothing wrong since coming under Dutrow's care, winning three consecutive sprints by a combined margin of 13 1/4 lengths.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Forced to scratch from last weekend's $100,000 Queens County Handicap due to a clerical error, has found an equally tough field for half the purse in Friday's $58,000 classified allowance feature at Aqueduct.
Two starts back, Summer Book skipped a condition to win a third-level allowance race at Keeneland by 8 1/4 lengths while earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 97. Trainer Niall O'Callaghan shipped him to Calder for the Carl Rose Classic Handicap, in which he finished fifth while encountering trouble on the turn.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Decisions, decisions.
Friday's nonwinners-other-than allowance feature at the Fair Grounds meet at Louisiana Downs is loaded with options. The turf race at about 1 1/16 miles for fillies and mares drew 14 entries, including two also-eligibles. The purse is a healthy $41,000 thanks to the 18 percent purse increase the track instituted this week.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - With the Sunshine Millions stakes for California-breds and Florida-breds a little more than a month away, the California-bred females Alphabet Kisses, Dancing General, and Proposed will have preps in separate races at Hollywood Park on Friday.
Alphabet Kisses, best known for winning the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita last December, is entered in a $57,000 allowance race for fillies and mares over six furlongs, the day's second race.
MIAMI - Dreadnaught is coming back to defend his title Saturday in the Grade 2, $200,000 W.L. McKnight Handicap at Calder. But even trainer Tom Voss admits Dreadnaught will have to be at his best to defeat a full, Grade 1-caliber field in this year's edition of the McKnight.
A 1 1/2-mile race, the McKnight and its filly counterpart, the $200,000 La Prevoyante, highlight Saturday's Grand Slam II card at Calder, which also includes the Grade 3, $100,000 Fred W. Hooper Handicap and the $100,000 Kenny Noe Jr. Handicap.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Stevie Wonderboy continued his preparation for his 3-year-old debut next month with a five-furlong breeze in 1:02.40 on Wednesday at Hollywood Park.
The workout, the colt's second since returning to serious training last month, keeps him on schedule for his next scheduled start, the $150,000 San Rafael Stakes at Santa Anita on Jan. 14.
Trainer Doug O'Neill timed Stevie Wonderboy 1:02.20, with a first three-eighths in 38.60 seconds and a final quarter-mile in 23.60.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Fleet Indian extended her racing career with a powerful five-length victory in last month's Montauk Handicap. How much longer she runs could depend on her performance in Saturday's $75,000 Ladies Handicap at Aqueduct.
Fleet Indian had shown so much promise winning her first four starts that she earned a start in the Grade 1 Alabama last year. She didn't handle the slop and finished fifth that day, and that race began a string of five losses from six starts.
CHICAGO - Chris Block doesn't push his young horses. "I'm not a 2-year-old trainer," he said.
One wouldn't know it this December at Hawthorne. Block almost won the Pat Whitworth Illinois Debutante here last weekend with the 2-year-old filly Cause She's Crafty, and on Saturday he starts the promising 2-year-old colt Creative Force in the Jim Edgar Illinois Futurity.
Two-time derby runner-up Gulfstream Five gets his final opportunity to score a derby victory when he starts in Friday's Grade 1, $170,000 Southern California Derby, the year's final derby at Los Alamitos.
Gulfstream Five was second to One More Habit in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Derby and second to Ocean Runaway in the Grade 2 PCQHRA Breeders Derby. Ocean Runaway, the 2004 champion 2-year-old, concluded his career with a win in the Grade 1, $500,000 Champion of Champions last Saturday night.
Behrens, a multiple Grade 1 winner who is now a Kentucky-based stallion, has a 2-year-old filly to watch in Texas. The filly, Behrenitall, won a maiden race by 19 3/4 lengths last Saturday night at Sam Houston Race Park.
Behrenitall was making her second start around two turns in the maiden special weight race, and she led throughout for the win.